Seattle police ask for phone diet during Saturday parade

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle's annual Torchlight Parade is this Saturday, and Seattle police have an unusual message for people planning to go watch the parade.

On their online police blotter, they are asking people to avoid overloading the cellular network during the parade by tweeting and posting photos to Facebook. When the cellular network is overloaded, people may be unable to reach the city's 911 emergency center.

Previous Seattle parades have put the cellular networks under a lot of strain, and some people had trouble calling for help. The police department says text messages are less taxing to the network than tweets and Facebook posts.

And, they add, there will be plenty of police officers attending the parade who can be asked for assistance in person.